Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Not me (Score 1) 43

...$70 for a complete game, I'm fine with that. Really, I am. Even $80 for a complete game is fine with me

But would you pay $130 or more today because that's what the cost should be for a "complete game".
Video going through the data from 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
And an article: https://venturebeat.com/pc-gam...

Most consumers wouldn't pay this much, and begrudgingly are consumers accepting a long overdue $10+ increase in AAA titles from 2020.
And yet many still claim $70 is overpriced.

Comment Re:ASCII art (Score 1) 192

I've been asking it to draw ASCII art.

This is so random but I've been asking it to do this too... for a toy, text-based game I've been working on in nights and weekends I was hopeful I could get it to make some ascii / ANSI art. It doesn't do a good job at all; including the new GPT-4 (paying member here).

The two things I've found Chat-GPT most useful for is.
1) little snippets of Typescript code, particularly when I have a lint error with a complex type and I don't understand why from the provided message. Asking Chat-GPT, like a "Typescript expert", has been wonderful
2) generating pieces of story text, particularly if I need multiple descriptions of a mundane area (e.g., "generate 20 descriptions of a field")

Comment Parallels fell behind in graphics over a decade (Score 1) 53

Parallels is not a solution if you want to run graphics apps. From https://kb.parallels.com/en/12...
"3D acceleration is currently supported at the level of DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 3.3. Some of the latest AAA games may not launch or run."

With DirectX 12 and Vulkan both out for over 7 years, I'd expect support by now.

I use to run Parallels for years, but eventually dumped it. Main pain-point was that it fell further and further behind in terms of 3D support and I could neither run games nor make 3D Apps in a Windows environment. They were slow to support DirectX 10 & OpenGL 3, and I left before they ever had DirectX 11 support. Eventually I made a native Windows box for this and haven't looked back.

Comment Re:Now? (Score 1) 84

If you mean a "better job" in being a simulation then there is room for improvement if that was the way the series wanted to move. Civilization is okay as a simulation but a lot of the fun derives from the game loops which may not play too nicely with history.
As one of Sid's rules goes, "Do your research after the game is done."

Granted, the series today is vast enough that researching is going on during all stages of development. ;)

Comment Re:What the hell are you talking about? (Score 4, Interesting) 323

I've worked in the games industry for 13 years (and 10 years in other industries before that.) I believe the horror stories of prolonged crunch, misogynistic environments, and just bad management is what fuel the desire for unions. I also believe those stories are not indicative of the entire industry, just a handful of bad studios. From talking with colleagues it's likely less than a quarter of the studios that can be categorized as a bad actor and may even be less than 10%. A lot of the stories may be of a bad manager rather than studio culture and it needs to be looked at more because there is a real chance that the amazing studios out there will be hurt by the rules, collective bargaining, and other aspects that come with Unionization.

When I made the transition I gave up a job making $70/hr for a games industry job with salary about 1/3 as much and for a contractor on an EA project, right around the time the "EA Spouse" story occurred. There was crunch and leadership was excellent at managing limiting it; only allowing us to put in those extra hours every other week and with well defined milestones so the crunch wouldn't persist for months and months. We shipped a great product that I'm still proud of today. I understand stories like these aren't told as frequently as they aren't as interesting, but colleagues in the industry agree, this experience of mine is par for the course and not the exception.

Pro-unionization of the games industry alone would lose my vote; I'm sad to hear he's taking that stance and hope he changes his mind.

Comment Will be missed (Score 3, Insightful) 98

Most people I've met who purchased their first Mac since 2010 or later have not adopted it; perhaps because its benefits (or just its existence) was not touted to users. I'm guessing the biggest issue was that it didn't get much use by the majority of current users and so there was no incentive to keep supporting it.

Personally, I'll miss the functionality and hope their is a good 3rd party alternative that can be installed. Currently I have on my dashboard:
- Weather
- Day Calendar with month showing
- iStat Pro (memory, CPU, WIFI, etc... stats, 3rd party)
- A programming calculator (3rd party)
- Three simple calculators
- Five sticky notes, each color coded for different reminder/lists

Comment Stuck with C++ (Score 2) 603

Almost two decades ago a I had a Thinkgeek C++ round bumper sticker on my car because I thought the language was the bees' knees. Today I'm finding myself holding my tongue in watching videos from C++Con which quickly go from 1 to 10 in terms of complexity; where only the smartest of developers can remember all of the rules and the exceptions to leverage modern day C++. I feel as if the movers and shakers of the C++ language spec have an inner social circle and have lost touch with the wider developer audience.

Having used C#, Actionscript, LUA, Python and dabbled just enough in Swift and Rust, I believe that C++ either needs to have a fundamental change to break the axiom of backwards compatibility or it will be replaced by Rust, Go, or some other (LLVM) language that has been inspired by C/C++ but has a simpler, consistent syntax made for modern day computing.

My prediction: when underlying, low-level OS components are replaced with non-C, non-C++ counterparts, that will be the beginning of a global acceptance for a new language standard. Until then there will always be a place for C/C++. I really hope this change happens in the next ten years; I'm not holding my breath though.

Comment Applesoft Basic (Score 2) 633

I first learned to program on an Apple ][e at school; was ecstatic when we got one at home. Technically this was after being taught Apple Logo, but I don't consider that my first language.

In Middle school I still remember learning IF PEEK(-16384)>127 THEN a key was pressed; the most important statement in moving from prompt based games to action based games. (Another good one POKE(49200) for a "click" through the speaker).

In High school I learned about Beagle Bros. and their BASIC compiler; running some of my games 10 times after... really allowing me to make something fun.
http://beagle.applearchives.co...

Eventually that gave way to Turbo Pascal, which gave way to C++.

Cloud

New RancherOS Offers Lean Linux Functionality Within Docker Containers (rancher.com) 49

RancherOS is a lean Linux distribution aiming to offer "the minimum necessary to get Docker up and running," and tucking many actual Linux services into Docker containers. An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes Distrowatch: Josh Curl has announced the release of a new version of RancherOS [which] moves the project out of its alpha status and introduces new features, including an official Raspberry Pi image... "We're especially excited about this since it offers users a cheap method of getting started with Docker and RancherOS."
Android

Pokemon Go Leads to Reckless Driving, Injuries, and A Corpse (chicagotribune.com) 130

Since its release Wednesday night, Pokemon Go has already gone on to become the top-grossing game in the three countries where it's available, and Forbes contributor Tero Kuittinen calls it "the first example of an AR product becoming a national obsession." An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Some fans are now tweeting about playing the game while driving, and the Chicago Tribune quotes one user who says "Pokemon Go put me in the ER last night... Not even 30 minutes after the release...I slipped and fell down a ditch." In Australia the game has been leading some players to their local police station, and a woman in Wyoming reports that the game actually led her to a dead body floating in a river. And at least one Pokemon Go screenshot has gone viral. It shows a man capturing a Pokemon while his wife gives birth.
The app's popularity has created lagging servers and forced Niantic to delay its international roll-out, meaning "Those who have already downloaded the game in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand can still play it, while those in the U.K., the Netherlands and other countries will have to wait." Meanwhile, Motherboard warns that a malicious sideloaded version of Pokemon Go is being distributed that actually installs a backdoor on Android devices, and also reports that some players are already spoofing their GPS coordinates in order to catch Pokemon without leaving their house.

Comment Re:Freeciv is better for suited for school (Score 1) 198

"While Civilization might have better graphics/sounds, that doesn't add much to the "educational" value."

When I was a director of a summer "Computer Camp" in the 1990s, we allowed our campers to play Civilization II. Within it was a plethora of information on historical figures, places, etc... to which the campers were actively seeking out in the "Civilopedia" as they played. Seeing this engagement across genders and ages, was a key reason why I sought out employment at Microprose after college. (Disclaimer: I'm currently employed by Firaxis; opinions stated here are my own.)

Civ5 has built on Civ; each version has pushed the level of graphics and sound which a few have argued do add educational value as it makes the content more compelling; I agree.

The last few versions of Civilization have offered a great deal of MODability. You too can change game rules, UI, etc... by modifying XML and the supplied LUA. As for the depth of what you can do, check out this awesome WIKI fans made of the MOD system: http://modiki.civfanatics.com/...

Iphone

Feds Ask Supreme Court To Void Apple's $400 Million Award From Samsung (siliconbeat.com) 63

An anonymous reader quotes the San Jose Mercury News technology blog: "The $400 million awarded to Apple in a patent-infringement case against Samsung is a moving target... On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a "friend of the court" brief to the Supreme Court, asking justices to void the $400 million award and send the case back to a lower court to determine if a new trial is needed... Samsung has argued that it should be liable only for profits attributable to a specific design that violated a patent, not an entire phone, and that the law should be interpreted to impose liability related to "components of the phones, rather than the phones themselves, according to the brief. The department came down on Samsung's side on the component argument, and blasted a federal circuit court ruling that had upheld the jury award.
Ironically, earlier this week Steve Wozniak was praising Samsung for its innovation, both in virtual reality headsets and with a Samsung camera that takes a picture whenever you say "smile".

Slashdot Top Deals

Dinosaurs aren't extinct. They've just learned to hide in the trees.

Working...